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'Open burning' law passes in Depew
Reacting to fire hazard dangers and complaints about open burning it has received, the Depew Village Board voted Monday to approve a new restrictive ordinance, despite pleas from several residents who expressed during a public hearing that they believe the action is too drastic.
The new village ordinance restricts the types of permitted open fires to only outdoor cooking contained in a grill or hibachi and with the use of charcoal and charcoal briquettes, natural gas and LP gas.
The use of outdoor fireplaces or fire pits with ceramic logs will still be permitted, but all other forms of recreational fires or campfires are prohibited. Bonfires will be permitted only for a publicly sponsored celebration or event and subject to meeting the requirements of a permit application with the village clerk's office.
The law is in response to at least two structure fires in the village caused by open fires and other recent carelessness with outside burning that has occurred locally, according to Depew Police Fire Chief Pete Michaels.
Michaels, the main author of the law, also cited a study from 2002 performed in Broome County, N.Y. that concluded there are excessively high levels of dangerous products, pollutants, toxic gases and ash residue created by open burning.
The action is similar to a more stringent open burning code used in Cheektowaga. Town Councilmember Tom Johnson attended the meeting to endorse the action and made note that since the institution of the new measures, Cheektowaga has cut down air pollution and experienced more compliance and fewer complaints about the subject.
The board unanimously approved the code, which also was publicly supported by several residents, although there were some complaints, mostly from those who thought restricting wood burning altogether was unfair.
Gary Pascucci of Columbia Avenue
was upset that he would not
be able to use his outdoor brick
Mazur fireplace anymore. "I can sympathize with the
wood burning problem, but I think
papers we're going way overboard here," Ray Kocialski of Cornell Drive added.
Columbia Avenue's Joe Mazur asked the board to consider other options such as restricting woodburning to at least 25 feet from a residence. He added that he believes people need to be further educated about the topic, instead of supporting restrictions.
"We may have a problem but we're going backwards with this law," Mazur said. "The answer is not saying 'no more,' but should be finding a solution that everyone can live with."
The board also approved a resolution to raise parking ticket fines in the village, because after recent surveys of surrounding municipalities, it found Depew's current penalty to be "very low."
The initial charge for a parking violation will be $25, which will be doubled to $50 if not paid within 10 days, then raised to $100 after a criminal summons has been sent and the 10-day period to pay $50 has passed. Handicapped parking tickets will remain at $50 and doubled to $100, if not paid within the time limit.
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